Professor; Canada Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing; Graduate Program Coordinator
PhD, University of California, Irvine, 2003
Phone:
519 824-4120 ext. 58514
Email:
Office:
Hutt 135
Website links:
Berg, Aaron
Soil moisture is an important component of the global water and energy cycle and in biogeochemical cycling. Meteorological conditions such as the near surface air temperature, boundary layer mixing heights and precipitation have been shown to depend, in part, on the soil moisture state. Accurate and timely soil moisture information has numerous applications in agricultural prediction and assessment, weather and climate prediction and streamflow prediction. Together with my research group we explore issues in hydrology using remote sensing and hydrological models.
My current areas of research are associated with following research networks and projects, well qualified students with interests in any of these topics are invited to contact me about opportunities for research funding:
GEOG*1300 Introduction to the Biophysical Environment
GEOG*1350 Earth: Hazards and Global Change
GEOG*3420 Remote Sensing of the Environment
GEOG*3610 Environmental Hydrology
GEOG*4110 Environmental Systems Analysis
GEOG*4690 Geography Field Research
GEOG*4990 Independent Study in Geography*
GEOG*6090 Geographic Research Methods
GEOG*6100 Geographic Scholarship and Research
GEOG*6610 Global Hydrology
*Over the past several years I have advised a number of students in independent studies (GEOG 4990). If students are looking for potential research opportunities I have a number of projects related to hydrology or remote sensing available.
Jaison Ambadan, Gordon Drewitt, Nasim Alavi, Tracy Rowlandson, Parinaz Rahimzadeh, Ehsan Roshani, Simon Zwieback, Ahmed Laamrani, Cameron Proctor, Manoj Kizhakkeniyil
An up-to-date list of my publications is available on Google Scholar
Shirriff* K, KC KB, Berg A. 2022. Evaluation of Agrobiodiversity and Cover Crop Adoption in Southern Ontario Field Crops. Agronomy. 12(2):415.
Berg, A., J. Thomas Ambadan*, A. Colliander, H. McNairn, J. Powers, E. Tetlock. 2022. The Impact of In-Situ Probe Orientation on SMAP Validation Statistics. IEEE Remote Sensing Letters. 19. 3000205. 10.1109/LGRS.2020.3018077
Chang*, Q., S. Zwieback, B. DeVries, A. Berg. 2022. Application of L-Band SAR for mapping tundra shrub biomass, leaf area index and rainfall interception. Remote Sensing of Environment. 268. 112747.
Chaubell, J., S. Yueh, S. Dunbar, A. Colliander, D. Entekhabi, S. Chan, F. Chen, X. Xu, R. Bindlish, P. O;Neill J. Asansuma, A. Berg, D.D. Bosch, T. Caldwell, M. Cosh, C. Holifield Collins, K. Jensen, J. Martinez-Fernandez, H. McNairn, M. Seyfried, P.J. Starks, Z. Su, M. Thibeault, J. Walker. 2022. Implementation and Analysis of the regularized dual-channel algorithm for the retrieval of soil moisture and vegetation optical depth for SMAP. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 15, 102-114. 10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3123932
Colliander, A., R.H. Reichle, W.T. Crow, M.H. Cosh, F. Chen, S. Chan, N. Das, R. Bindlish, M.J. Chaubell, S.B. Kim, Q. Liu, P. O’Neill, R.S. Dunbar, L. Dang, J. Kimball, T.J. Jackson, H.K. al Jassar, J. Asanuma, B. K. Bhattacharya, A. Berg, D.D. Bosch, L. Bourgeau-Chavez, T. Caldwell, J-C. Calvet, W. Dorigo, C. Holifield Collins, K. Jensen, S. Livingston, E. Lopez-Baeza, J. Martínez-Fernández, H. McNairn, M. Moghaddam, C. Montzka, C. Notarnicola, T. Pellarin, J. Prueger, J. Pulliainen, J. Ramos, M. Seyfried, P. Starks, Z. Su, R. van der Velde, Y. Zeng, M. Thibeault, J.P. Walker, M. Zribi, D. Entekhabi, S. Yueh. 2022. Validation of soil moisture data products from the NASA SMAP mission. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 15, 364-392. 10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3124743
Lapierre, J., P.V. Ferrari Machado, Z. Bebruyn, S.E. Brown, S. Jordan, A. Berg, A. Biswas, H.A.L. Henry. C. Wagner-Riddle. 2022. Cover crop mixtures: a powerful strategy to reduce post-harvest surplus soil nitrate and leaching. Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment. 325. 107750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2021.107750
Alijani*, Z., J. Lindsay, M. Chabot*, T. Rowlandson*, A. Berg. 2021. Sensitivity of C-Band SAR polarimetric variables to the directionality of surface roughness parameters. Remote Sensing. 13(11):2210. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13112210
Brown S, C. Wagner-Riddle, Z. Debruyn, S. Jordan, A. Berg, J.T. Ambadan*, K.A. Congreves, P.V. Machado. 2021. Assessing variability of soil water balance components measured at a new lysimeter facility dedicated to the study of soil ecosystem services. Journal of Hydrology. 2021 127037.
DeBeer, C.M., H. S. Wheater, J. W. Pomeroy, A. G. Barr, J. L. Baltzer, J. F. Johnstone, M. R. Turetsky, R. E Stewart, M. Hayashi, G. van der Kamp, S. Marshall, E. Campbell, P. Marsh, S. K. Carey, W. L. Quinton, Y. Li, S. Razavi, A. Berg, J. J. McDonnell, C, Spence, W. D. Helgason, A. M. Ireson, T.A Black, B. Davison, A. Howard, J. M. Thériault, K. Shook, A. Pietroniro. 2021. Summary and synthesis of Changing Cold Regions Network (CCRN) research in the interior of western Canada–Part 2: Future change in cryosphere, vegetation, and hydrology. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 25. 1849-1882. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1849-2021
Eyre* R, Lindsay J, Laamrani* A, Berg A. 2021. Within-Field Yield Prediction in Cereal Crops Using LiDAR-Derived Topographic Attributes with Geographically Weighted Regression Models. Remote Sensing. 13(20):4152. doi.org/10.3390/rs13204152
Pardo Lara* R, A. Berg, J. Warland, G. Parkin. Implications of measurement metrics on soil freezing curves: A simulation of freeze-thaw hysteresis. Hydrological Processes 35(7), e14269, 10.1002/hyp.14269 2021
Mardian*, J, A. Berg. B. Daneshfar, 2021. Evaluating the Temporal Accuracy of Grassland to Cropland Change Detection Using Multitemporal Image Analysis. Remote Sensing of Environment. 255, 112292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112292
Mavrovic A., R. Pardo Lara*, A. Berg, F. Demontoux, A. Royer, A. Roy. 2021. Soil dielectric characterization during freeze-thaw transitions using L-band coaxial probe and soil moisture probes. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 25, 1117-113. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-1117-2021
Park, C-H., A. Berg, M.H. Cosh, A. Colliander, A. Behrendt, H. Manns, J. Hong, J. Lee, V. Wulfmeyer. 2021. An inverse dielectric mixing model at 50 MHz that considers soil organic carbon. Hydrology and Earth System Science. 25, 6407-6420. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6407-202
I’m always happy to chat about research opportunities for students with interests in terrestrial hydrology and/or remote sensing. Positions are available for students at the PhD or MSc level. Several funded positions are typically available to students interested in the applied use of GIS and remote sensing for observation of soil moisture (both passive and active sensors), soil freeze thaw processes, and agricultural land management. All projects provide excellent opportunities for combining field work, laboratory and computer analysis. We have field sites in the arctic, within boreal forests, and in agricultural regions. Students with backgrounds in Physical Geography or Geomatics, Physical Sciences, Engineering or Computer Sciences are encouraged to contact me to discuss available projects and funding opportunities.
Graduate Students Supervised
| Name | Research | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | Chang, Qianyu | Ice content mapping of permafrost. | |
| Ph.D. | Mardian, Jacob | Drought monitoring and modelling in Canada. | |
| Ph.D. | Merchant, Michael | Research Interests: Wetland classification and monitoring using remote sensing, geospatial cloud computing, machine learning, and data fusion. | |
| Ph.D. | Pardo Lara, Renato | Land surface freeze/thaw (F/T) transitions, particularly, landscape F/T signatures acquired from microwave remote sensing satellites in the context of the soil moisture F/T state | |
| M.Sc. | Wicks, Kayla | Research interests: Remote sensing vegetation water content in forested environments. | |
| Ph.D. | Yekeen, Shamsudeen | Geospatial Intelligence of the Environment, Hydrology, Climate Change Hazard Management, Oil Spill Remote sensing, and Land Use Landcover. | |
| M.Sc. | 2005 | Powell, Luke R. | Links Among Climate, Soil Moisture and Grasshopper Populations in Alberta. |
| M.Sc. | 2007 | Hansen, Dionne N. | Soil moisture variability at the regional and Satellite Pixel Scale: Implications for Calibration/validation Networks. |
| M.Sc. | 2007 | Koukidis, Eleni N. | The sensitivity of the statistical downscaling model (SDSM) to reanalysis products. |
| Ph.D. | 2008 | Alavi, Nasim | Data assimilation techniques to improve evapotranspiration estimates. |
| M.Sc. | 2009 | Courtney, Lisa | Evaluating the Controls of Soil Moisture Variability within the Canadian Land Surface Scheme (CLASS). |
| Ph.D. | 2009 | Dumedah, Gift | Multi-Objective Calibration of Hydrological Models and Data Assimilation using Genetic Algorithms. |
| M.Sc. | 2010 | Adams, Justin [MSc] | Sensitivity of Polarimetric C-band Synthetic Aperture RADAR to Field-Scale Soil Surface Parameters. |
| Ph.D. | 2011 | Champagne, Catherine | Assessing agricultural drought conditions using remote sensing |
| M.Sc. | 2011 | Powell, Kate | Evaluating soil moisture variability using Synthetic Aperture RADAR and LiDAR derived wetness indices. |
| M.Sc. | 2011 | Rogers, Jess | Remote sensing for the prediction of wind erosion potential. |
| M.Sc. | 2012 | Impera, Sarah | Validating In Situ Soil Moisture Monitoring Networks for use with Passive Microwave Soil Moisture Products. |
| M.Sc. | 2012 | McKeown, Steve | Discrimination of agricultural land management practices using polarimetric Synthetic Aperture RADAR. |
| M.Sc. | 2012 | Melnychuk, Amie | Multi-temporal crop classification using a decision tree in a Southern Ontario agricultural region. |
| M.Sc. | 2013 | Fuss, Colleen | Increasing digital elevation model resolution using multi-observation, quad-polar, RADARSAT-2 imagery and data fusion techniques. |
| M.Sc. | 2014 | Belanger, Jonathon | The role of soil moisture monitoring networks in the validation of remotely sensed soil moisture estimates. |
| M.Sc. | 2014 | Merchant, M. Allan | Ecological classifications of the Taiga Plains Boreal Zone using Polarimetric SAR. |
| M.Sc. | 2014 | Roy, Swapan | Role of data simulation in earth sciences. |
| M.Sc. | 2014 | Scriver, Rebecca | Evaluating the effect of irrigation policies on urban energy budgets using remote sensing. |
| M.Sc. | 2014 | Woodrow, Kathryn | Isolated Catchment Mapping in Southwestern Ontario Morainal Landscapes |
| Ph.D. | 2015 | Adams, Justin | Active and passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture: Validation and scaling over an agricultural region. |
| M.Sc. | 2015 | Burns, Travis | Evaluating The Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Soil Moisture Within The Brightwater Creek Watershed, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| M.Sc. | 2015 | Humphrey, Rachel | The dynamics of active layer soil moisture over Canadian Arctic tundra in Trail Valley Creek, NT observed in-situ and with remote sensing. |
| Ph.D. | 2015 | Manns, Hida | Soil organic carbon in soil water content variability; detection and application in agricultural fields. |
| M.Sc. | 2015 | Warren, Rebecca | Examining the spatial distribution of soil moisture and its relationship to vegetation and permafrost dynamics in a Subarctic permafrost peatland. |
| M.Sc. | 2016 | Chabot (Cowan), Melanie | Characterizing Agricultural Surface roughness using a terrestrial laser scanner: Implications for soil moisture retrieval from remote sensing products. |
| M.Sc. | 2016 | Williamson, Matthew | A critical evaluation of the Hydra Probe for use in the validation of remote sensing soil freeze/thaw products. |
| M.Sc. | 2016 | Woodley, William | Investigating the scaling of an in situ soil moisture for satellite validation. |
| M.Sc. | 2016 | Wrona, Elizabeth | Evaluation of Novel remote sensing techniques for soil moisture monitoring in the Western Canadian Arctic. |
| M.Sc. | 2017 | Carpano, Olivia | Permafrost probability modelling and mapping in southern Northwest Territories and northeastern British Columbia. |
| M.Sc. | 2017 | MacDougall, Joshua E. | Evaluating linear polarizations from C-band SAR to changes in vegetation and in-situ soil moisture over corn fields in SW Ontario |
| M.Sc. | 2017 | Ueckermann, Elené | Evaluating the Utility of Remotely Sensed Soil Moisture for the Characterization of Runoff Response over Canadian Watersheds |
| M.Sc. | 2018 | White, Jenelle | Characterizing wheat and canola yield sensitivity to the timing and duration of soil moisture extremes observed from microwave satellites. |
| M.Sc. | 2019 | Kopan, Melisa | Examining Multiple Techniques to Interpolate Discrete soil moisture measurements using a large-scale lysimeter facility |
| M.Sc. | 2020 | Chang, Qianyu (MSc) | Mapping shrub biomass, Leaf Area Index and rainfall interception capacities in Arctic tundra using L-band SAR. |
| M.Sc. | 2020 | Eyre, Riley | Examining and Modelling the Relationship between Local Topographic Variation and Crop Yield Potential. |
| M.Sc. | 2020 | March, Michael | Assessing the Performance of Multispectral Sensors Mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for the Prediction of Soil Organic Carbon Levels at Field-Scale |
| M.Sc. | 2020 | Mardian, Jacob (MSc) | Evaluating the Utility of Remote Sensing Time Series Analysis the Identification of Grassland Conversions in Alberta, Canada. |
| M.Sc. | 2020 | Shirriff, Katherine | Investigation Of Cover Crop Adoption as a Soil Conservation Practice Across Southern Ontario”. |
| M.Sc. | 2021 | Miller, Bryce | Exploration of Evapotranspiration (ET) Sensitivity to Vegetation Indices (VIs) Using Weighing Lysimeters |
| M.Sc. | 2021 | Oja, Matilda | Understanding Factors Influencing Agricultural Expansion in the Canadian Boreal Forest. |
| M.Sc. | 2022 | Creen, Jay | Determining the role of vegetation water content in L-band microwave soil moisture monitoring over the boreal forest. |
| M.Sc. | 2022 | MacRae, Heather | Spatio-temporal variability of soil moisture in the Canadian boreal forest; influence of organic layer. |
| Ph.D. | 2023 | Alijani, Zohreh | Investigation the Role of Factors Important for the Validation of Satellite Soil Moisture Retrievals: Applications of LiDAR Technology. |